The Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (DOST-PHIVOLCS) will conduct a three-day “Teachers’ Training on Communicating Earthquake, Tsunami and Volcanic Hazards” for high school teachers of Ormoc City on April 24-26, 2018 at Pongos Hotel, Ormoc City, Leyte.

Through a series of lectures and applied workshop, DOST-PHIVOLCS aims to train teachers on basic information about the science of volcano, earthquake, tsunami and its hazards, preparedness and how to communicate these information to their students.

DOST-PHIVOLCS awareness and preparedness program intends to equip school children with the right information to prepare, respond and protect oneself during volcanic eruption, earthquake and tsunami since children are vulnerable to the dangers brought by these occurrences.

The three-day training is normally offered to selected public high school teachers only. This time however, selected Science teachers and school disaster risk reduction focal person/coordinator from 26 high schools, both public and private, in Ormoc City are expected to participate on this training in coordination with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the local government of Ormoc City.

The province of Leyte is transected and bounded by active earthquake generators and therefore, large-magnitude earthquakes have occurred in the area. A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck the province last 6 July 2017. The epicenter is located 15.5 km northeast of Ormoc City, Leyte. The earthquake was generated by the movement of Leyte Segment of the Philippine Fault.

Earlier this year, DOST-PHIVOLCS inaugurated the reconstructed Palo Seismic Station damaged by Typhoon Yolanda in Palo, Leyte. This earthquake monitoring station has and will significantly benefit the Province of Leyte through increased detectability of events and more accurate and timely determination of earthquake parameters of events generated by active earthquake sources in and around the province.

The Department of Science and Technology - Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (DOST-PHIVOLCS) has provided our stakeholders a convenient, quick, and hassle-free online access to hazard maps. Local government units, government agencies, and other stakeholders can now access hazard maps using their computers and even through their smartphones free of charge.

Stakeholders can now go to https://gisweb.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/hazardmap and fill out the form to download the maps. Active faults, ground shaking, liquefaction, earthquake-induced landslide, tsunami, volcanic hazards, and lahar hazard maps can be downloaded through a link that will be sent via email. The hazard maps are in kmz, pdf or jpg formats. Specific hazards assessment and SHP file may be requested as well.

The hazard maps should be used as basis for disaster awareness, prevention, mitigation, preparedness and response plans of the local government. It can also be used as a tool for land-use planning, teaching aid, urban planning, and risk assessment.

Accessing the hazard maps online through this site in the comfort of their homes or offices will save the stakeholders the time and money. This is one of the efforts of DOST-PHIVOLCS to continually improve our services to serve the public better.

PHIVOLCS conducted a four-day training on exposure data collection for the Tarlac towns of Moncada and Anao from March 19 - 22, 2018. Last January 29 to February 3, 2018, nine Tarlac towns underwent a six day REDAS training through the support of the Office of Congressman Carlos O. Cojuangco of the First District of Tarlac. The towns of Moncada and Anao were first among the batch who requested assistance from PHIVOLCS for help in developing their own exposure database that can be used for impact estimation. The REDAS Exposure Database Module (EDM) android application version 2.6 was the tool used in data collection. There was a total of 23 participants during the training with 15 representatives from Moncada and eight from Anao. The survey was also conducted under the PHIVOLCS project “Seismic Risk Assessment of Selected Areas in the Philippines (SeRene)” which aims to generate earthquake impact assessment of Tarlac province for their use in disaster preparedness, emergency and land use planning

The pilot barangays chosen for the survey were Poblacion 3 for Moncada and Poblacion for Anao. On the first day, the participants were given overview of the Exposure Database Module and the UPD-ICE Building Typology. The second day was set for the lectures on REDAS as a risk assessment tool and the use of REDAS - EDM survey tool for Android Devices. An initial survey was done on the same day to provide them with first-hand training on the software. The rest of the assigned areas were completed on the third day. The data managers were taught how to prepare the survey data for the risk assessment procedure using REDAS software.They were also shown how the survey data would look like by using the REDAS-EDM for PC and QGIS.

Although only one barangay was targeted by the team per town, the Moncada representatives surveyed a total of 206 buildings for Brgy. Poblacion 3 and Brgy. Poblacion 1. On the other hand, the Anao representatives gathered 196 data for Brgys. Poblacion and Brgy. San Juan. After the survey, the facilitators presented the comparison of the risk assessment using PSA Data and using survey data. On the last day of training, the municipalities set a timeline when which they would be able to accomplish the necessary procedures on risk assessment using REDAS. Both Moncada and Anao planned to finish the survey of their respective municipalities on May 5, 2018.